BiggerPockets

Hi Guys,

Firstly let me say Thankyou for the opertunity to get these questions answered by the best of the best.

I'm a 20 year old wannabe millionaire who's really struggling in life and in need of some real estate help.

Before I begin just a really quick piece of background info, I havn't had an easy life, I had everything taken from me when I was 10 and have been living in an abusive house hold for the past few years struggling to get my education and become a great person in life. Last Year at the age of 19 I decided to go back to School and finish in order to grab my diploma and proove to myself no matter what you can always push yourself a bit further.

Luckily I was born with a good head on my shoulders and despite being abused I always knew I could do great things in life If I just belived in myself.

After atending various seminars ie Anthony Robbins and Dr John Demartini I started to get the crazy idea that at the age of 20 I could outshine every single other teenager/young man and really live a passion filled worthwhile life.

So I've decided that this year I'm going to go full throttle into investing and make a great life for myself and one day future family/friends.

However I have a major problem and this is where my ' Tough Question ' comes from.
I've worked various jobs and because I never held myself to high esteem they were always bottom of the barrel, retail or temp jobs that usually had a manager who treated you like dirt thus giving me a really nasty taste in my mouth for ever wanting to work again.

To be frankly honest, I dont want to ever work again. However By work I dont mean work, I mean a career working for someone else, working in a field I dont enjoy or in an area that I have little or no control of and cannot profit from. I understand being young you have to start at the bottom and I've done that already, I've learned sales skills and I belive If It came down to it I could negoatiate anything out of anyone.

My First Question is -

1) How would I start investing in my first property if I dont have a Job, thus meaning no bank will loan me money?

2) My Total savings Equal $500 at the present and I'm lucky to live with a relative who charges me VERY little rent, How could I use this $500 to get started?

3) What should I do to overcome this problem of working? I want to work for myself and profit from my hard work as opposed to making some ' company ' and some ' boss ' richer. I Belive my time and work ethic is worth alot more than I'm being paid.

4) Would anyone have a copy of http://www.amazon.com/Turned-into-Million-Estate-Spare/dp/0671253689
' How I turned $1000 into 5 Million in my spare time ' for sale or spare they would be willing to sell me?

5) Is it impossible or stupid to want/ask for a mentor?
The reason I ask this is because alot of millionaires I've talked to always say ' Find a Mentor , Find someone who's done what you want to do and learn from them ' But everyone I've spoken to who has done what I want to do doesn't seem to want to offer mentoring or advice, regardless of how much I proove myself or how much money I offer them.

6) Is there any field of real estate I might enjoy as a career to get started earning some money ( For investing ) that would give me a really great advantage in property market knowledge that doesn't involve being an agent?

7) Trump once said ' borrow borrow borrow and even if you dont need to borrow some more ' Could explain this logic to me? I would assume the less you borrow the less you have to pay back and the smaller your fee's would be from interest?

8) I belive I could turn $5 million into $50 million in a matter of years, but my problem is getting that first $5 million, exactly how is one supposed to do that without having a full time job and alot of savings?

9) Is there anything I could do TODAY to get the momentum needed for my future investments.

Thankyou Kindly

- Paul

What I'm going to say can be taken quite harshly -- if you don't dig a little deeper for the real point of what I am trying to say. It's up to you to consider my words as a put down, or a reality check -- you determine your own destiny. That said, here it goes:

1. The world is filled with people who have been abused.
2. The world is filled with people who complain about bosses.
3. The world is filled with people who only have $500 in their pocket.
4. The world is filled with people who talk a good game about all of the great things they are going to do if somebody would just give them a break.

YOU have got to get a job -- too bad if you don't like it.
YOU have got to save money -- too bad if you can only save $50 a week.
YOU have got to read lots, and lots of books -- too bad if they cost $49.00 on Amazon.

YOU have taken an important first step in reaching out. The people here will help you, but YOU have got to ask the right questions and YOU have got to take the right ACTIONS.

Your childhood is not the problem.
Your finances are not the problem.

Whether you have patience could be a problem -- it may well take you 5-7 years to begin to get where you want to go, and that's if you work really, really hard at it.

You can do it, but it is YOU that has to do it -- no excuses and no sympathy.

Good luck!

My first piece of advice. Drop the victim act.There is no place for a victim anywhere(welfare line maybe?). If you had it bad,and you may have. The best thing is to never be there again so do not start any conversation or introduction ever playing the victim. Ok on to some of your questions.

Where to start making money.
1. Get a job. I know this is not something you want. With a job comes something you need,MONEY.
2. Sell what skills you have to an employer.
3. Develope more skills,continue your education.
4. Learn everything you can about what it is you are actually trying to do.Right now no matter what you think you lack even the most basic understanding of business.

Do these things now not later.

Brief history about me so you know where I am comming from.
I dropped out of high school.Did the retail/crap job from the age of 17-21 or so.Then I went back to school and on to colledge.Got a middle management job I hated(but i did make a very small amount of money...that was needed later).Saved every penny I could.Then I went through a realtor to purchase my first property.This almost turned into a nightmare.Everything was wrong. To high closing cost,to little value,not worth what I paid.Pissed I decided to learn what my realtor should have know.So I got a realestate lic. I learned very little in that process,but some.I worked both my middle management job and realestate job for over a year.Selling new and existing property learning from a very skilled broker the business. Bakc to school again this time for a broker lic.Then(very important part)with the money saved and some knowledge hard learned I started to buy property.Unlike alot of investors if I could not turn a property in 30 days I did not buy it.I also continued working with clients(mostly banks and other investors) servicing and maintaining properties,listing them ect...all the time learing and staying one step ahead of the market.I have turned over 50 properties at this point.And made my clients (investors and banks)money. Now several years into this business I am helping banks liquidate the hundreds of forclosures they are faced with,and in the process building my own net worth and net worth of investors I work with.This is not a business for someone who does not want to work...and work very hard. An average day for me is 10-12 hours of WORK.I now earn over 6 figures on any given year.This year looks great as well.

You expressed a desire not to work.And played the victim card as your introduction.Change you life.Change your attitude.And realize nothin is going to be given/handed to you.Earn your station in life.I am so sick of the people who think they are owed somthing lol.So in short change everything about who you are and you may amount to more than a drive through fast food employee.

Paul - It is great you have this focus from such a young age. If you continue to work towards your real estate goals then you will probably be one step ahead of most investors. However, the reality is that there is no free lunch in this country (for the vast majority).

You need investment capital. There are no short cuts here. Maybe you can convince a private investor to loan you funds, but more than likely you are going to have to suck it up for a few years - work for The Man, live VERY frugally, and save every penny; all the while staying focused on your goals, reading, attending local RE investment meetings, watching and learning your local market, looking at houses, etc.

Manage your credit carefully. Pay credit card bills on time and in full. If you don't have a line of credit, get one. Start building a credit history, and do not miss a payment. Good credit will be one of your most important tools down the road.

When the time comes, and you have adequate capital saved, you'll be ready to buy a place - maybe a place of your own to turn into a rental two years later, and you'll find that the ball will be off and rolling.

My best advice to you would be to work all the hours you possibly can. Get a job in sales - these skills will help you down the road - try to find work in the housing industry - get paid for work that will help you in your investing down the road - but get work, save and stop dreaming that someone is going to do it for you. Live frugally, and the money will come and you can start investing.

OK upgraded, it's time for a little " tough love" from your uncle.

1. Quit watching taped seminars. If you're smart, and it sounds like you are, you've noticed by now that most of them are pretty much all alike. I once likened them to " teaching me how to blow smoke up my own a**" So I told my boss that if I was going to do his job (blow smoke up my a**, ie; motive ME) that I should be getting HIS override on my sales as that was HIS job.

2. I spent many years as an employee and an employer. In my experience it's bad " followers" who create bad " leaders" . Check your ATTITUDE, it may be what's causing some of your grief with your supervisors.

3. GET ON A PAYROLL and stay there. It's good for discipline and the bottom line. I'm not saying you have to be a clock puncher or cubicle rat for the rest of your life, but it can't hurt. Great place to network and the coffee and computer are generally " free" .

4. Build a large cash reserve. I've got the assets to put together some sizable deals, but I can't do them if I don't have a few $K ready cash for earnest money. I also have to pay my utilities and buy groceries.

Enough said. I'm starting to repeat what others have already posted.

I doubt you need a mentor, they're generally a waste of time and from your OP I'd say you've already wasted enough time and money on seminars. GET TO WORK.

all cash

Paul,

You need a skill.. You need to learn how to make repairs if you want to get into this business. I would suggest that you go into construction work for a while. Other wise you are going to be relying on other people to do work for you all of your life.

Actually, now that everyone else has beat you up (which is good for you), I think you are in a very good position to step off into the right direction.

If you do not want to work for someone else, you must have some job skill of your own that will generate income. If you are in school, you are at the opportunity place right now to learn something that will be valuable to you in the future.

Money never just comes out of thin air. You must have some trick that generates income. That's a skill that you can learn.

People get what they want out of life. You see the guy who pumps gas at the gas station? He's there because all he wants out of life is to sleep in front of his big screen and drink beer. He doesn;t want any more than that.

If you really want more, you have to want it enough to work for it. If you are willing to do the studying and do the work, you can have darn near anything that you really want. That's one of the very nicest things about living in America. There is oppoertunity for everyone. All you have to do is reach out and take it.

If you want to invest in real estate, you need knowledge, and you need good credit. It's hard for someone with nothing to build credit without a source of income. That's where a job comes in.

If you get a college degree, you have a chance of getting a job that will teach you skills that you can use for a real estate career. You also have a salary that you can use to build yourself a really good credit report.

Wealthloop, Trump may not install toilets, but you'd better believe he knows to the penny how much he should be paying to have 2500 toilets installed. Rich people don't get rich by allowing the hired help to take advantage and over-charge them.

WL,

Perhaps you are OK paying someone 200 bucks to fix a faucet or put the breaks on your car, I like keeping my money and doing the work myself.

WL,

Of course I get it. Thats why I pay a kid to scrape and paint my basement walls for 150 bucks on my rehabs. While he is doing that, I can concentrate on the more important projects. I work full time as a software programmer and I can't believe how many people that I work with don't have a clue how fix their car or fix a plumbing leak. In my opinion these people are at the mercy of others. I grew up poor on a farm and under those conditions you have to know how to do everything yourself.

There is also the pride factor that I struggle with all the time. My father would disown me if he knew that I paid someone to fix something that I am perfectly able to do. It's a mind set that many people now days would not understand. I was watching a flipping show the other day. This guy bought a rehab and didn't have a clue how to do anything. He paid his friends to come over to replace a front door, while he stood there looking stupid and he actually was stupid. Stupid in a way of not having any idea how do to any of the work himself or even what that job was going to cost him in labor and materials before he started it. He lost his butt on that flip.

Upgraded,

Much like everyone else here has said, anything is possible when you focus. The best example I can think of at the moment is the movie " the pursuit of happiness" . The main character and his young son end up homeless after numerous hardships. He decides that he no longer wants to live that life so he changes it. He does everything in his power to change his future and, through determination and focus, he lands the perfect job and lives happily ever after. :wink:

If you want something not easily attainable then you must work that much harder or smarter to get it. I'm not going to answer the questions that you posted except number 9. You need to learn, that simple.

I decided many years ago that I do not want to live as I was raised, nothing against my parents or anything. I went to college and landed a great job which pays more than I ever thought i would make. I was then finally convinced to start real estate investing and so I started learning, meeting people and acting, not watching. Now, I have studied real estate and learned how it works. I consider myself a full-time investor, even though i currently have a full-time job. I sold one house, about to sell another, and have two more houses that I am currently working on. Ask anyone on this forum who has been around what I knew when i started, nothing. And yes, I learned 70% of what I know from the great people here. I made it a point to leave the " rat race" of being broke and decided to make a change. Through working my ass off and being focused on my goals I have made a change, its visible now.

My point......work your ass off to get what you want. Be determined and do what it takes, no laziness here